Marcolino’s mother wants him to be a grand pianist, and so he practices his scales even though he hates it. He’d much rather be a grand formula-one racer, a grand pirate, or a grand flying acrobat. Marcolino’s grandfather res cues him by providing old photographs of his mother, which reveal she was not the grand pianist she claimed to be. Marcolino then takes up the tuba, an instrument he prefers. Offbeat cartoon and collage illustrations are full of movement and goofy details. 2008 USBBY Outstanding International Books, Bologna Ragazzi Special Mention, Bank Street College of Education’s Best Books of the Year. mjw

Originally published as Piano, Piano in French by Edi tions Sarbacane France, in 2005.